Writing with a glass of alcohol in hand and a couple more already in my belly.: The Twice Fried Chicken Experiment

This is why I can't be thin again.

Twice fried chicken is one of the current food fads with Bonchon, Chicken Charlie and Manang's in the forefront. I am addicted to twice fried chicken (TFC from now on). Frying chicken twice results in a crispier and paper-thin skin which I love. The sauce is also amazing! I love love love it! The only problem is, I'm no longer residing in Taft where all three are very accessible. Sometimes I feel the need to have some TFC in my tummy but am too lazy to drive or has no one to go with so I just resign myself to the feeling of emptiness only TFC can fill. So I decided to do something about it. Why not try to make one at home? I don't mean to brag but I usually am good at experimenting with food. I was successful with my Cayenne Calamares and Beer&Bacon pancakes (I might post the recipe one of these days), why not push my luck a bit further? After watching numerous youtube videos, and reading various recipes, I decided to try making TFC with elements from my resources and decided to add my own twist which resulted to my own unique soy garlic recipe.

Recipe

Fried Chicken:

Chicken (preferably legs or wings)
Salt & Pepper
All-purpose flour
Oil for frying

Soy Garlic Sauce:

2/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp pure olive oil
1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
13 tsp muscovado sugar
4 tsp strawberry wine
A little more than 1/8 cup of water

Procedure:

Marinate your chicken with salt & pepper at least 30 minutes before you start frying. The longer you marinate, the better.
Heat your frying pan with enough oil in high heat. Coat the chicken lightly with all-purpose flour while waiting for the oil to heat up.
Test whether your oil is hot enough by dipping a piece of chicken. If the oil bubbles on the area where you dipped the chicken, the oil is already hot enough. Fry the chicken for 10 minutes on high heat.
After 10 minutes, take out the chicken from the oil and wait another 10 minutes before you fry it again. Fry it until golden brown. This usually take another 10-12 minutes.
Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan. Add the onion and saute until soft.
Add the garlic and saute for about 3-5 minutes
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Mix until it starts to boil. Simmer for 2 minutes more.
Strain the sauce and coat the chicken with it. You could put some chicken and sauce in a big container and shake it.

I am not recommending that you follow this recipe to the letter rather, tweak it according to your own taste. Don't be afraid to experiment! Also, because the sauce was a stressful ordeal for me because I really didn't follow a recipe for that one since most recipes I encountered required ingredients I didn't have like Mirin or Potato flour. My recipe was mostly improvisation so my measurements may not have been accurate though I used measuring cups and spoons. This is because I kept adding something until I finally got the taste that I wanted. Some people may find the strawberry wine a weird ingredient but in our family it is not. It is a staple of our adobo and other dishes. The strawberry wine adds a distinct kind of subtle sweetness when added to dishes. I know not everyone's cupboard has a stash of strawberry wine but since the holidays are coming up, I'm pretty sure you know at least one person if not yourself who'll go to Baguio. Strawberry wine is pretty cheap and would cost you less than a hundred bucks. Also, don't be fooled by how pink or red the wine is. The bright red color is just coloring and does not say anything about the quality of the wine. Most vendors offer a free taste so base it on that. My mom and I love adding alcohol to our food. Not because we want to get hammered (alcohol becomes impotent when cooked) but because of the different flavors it adds. I cook bacon with Bacardi (try it!) and add beer to pancakes. Experimentation pays off.